This, I would have to agree with. I am an avid reader of a number of food blogs and I believe that they have numerous benefits over traditional food media.

Not only do you learn about exciting new places to eat and drink at but you get to see all the amazing food and drinks before you commit to trying them. As Jenny An notes, “Words alone are no longer good enough to be involved in the conversation.”

There are so many reasons why food blogs are immensely helpful I could go on for hours but just to name a few:

If a restaurant doesn’t have a website it is likely you will find a review of it on a blog discussing menu options, prices and atmosphere.

If you are stuck for ideas of where to go for a meal/drink just go onto the site of a local blogger and scroll through all the options.

You can avoid those horrid restaurant experiences by reading reviews before you choose where to eat – though, you will need to find a blogger who has similar tastes to you first, preparing yourself for a few not so hot meals in the first instance to work this out.

Jenny An’s article also brings up the interesting and controversial topic of ethics. It discusses how publicists have long offered complementary meals to traditional media despite it being generally considered taboo to accept. Yet, is it ok for food bloggers to accept these meals?

I believe that as long as they disclose the fact that they dined on behalf of the restaurant and promise to write truthfully about their meal then there shouldn’t be a problem.

My personal favourite food blogger, Not Quite Nigella, notes on her blog that she will “only write about items that she personally likes or finds interesting. With product and restaurant reviews, she writes them honestly taking the good as well as the bad which means she will talk about the positive as well as the negative as that’s what her readers value.”

It is obvious after reading a couple of her posts that Not Quite Nigella is truthful about her experience whether she attends on behalf of the restaurant or not.

However, how do we know that all bloggers have kept their promise of being truthful with their reviews? I am keen to hear your thoughts.

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